Filmmaker and puppeteer Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda, Ms. Piggy and Grover, will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 38th annual Saturn Awards, as will actor James Remar, a genre fan-favorite whose credits include “Warriors,” “48 Hrs.” and the Showtime series “Dexter.”

The July 26 ceremony in Burbank will also honor the historic run of the Fox series “The Simpsons” — which aired its 500th episode in February — with a Milestone Award while Robert Kirkman, the creator of “The Walking Dead” comic book series and executive producer of the namesake AMC television show, will be presented with Innovator Award for successfully taking the zombie infection beyond genre culture and into the mainstream.

“It’s really a tremendous honor,” said Kirkman, whose comic book reaches its 100th issue in July. “Zombies deserve as much prominence as vampires and werewolves, as far as horror-genre stories go. I’m very happy.”

In competition categories, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ and Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” each received 10 nominations, while the J.J. Abrams sci-fi adventure “Super 8″ secured eight nominations. The Saturns are presented by the Academy of Science and Horror Fiction Films, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.